Topic of culminating project: How environmental differences between home and hospital births can effect the woman's process of giving birth.
"Hospital Birth." The Center of Unhindered Living. N.p., n.d. Web. 31 Mar 2011. <http://www.unhinderedliving.com/hospital.html>.
This source provided a detailed list of the pros and cons of giving birth in a hospital, including certain environmental factors.
"Home Birth vs Hospital Birth isn't about location." Exploring the full spectrum of natural parenting. N.p., 18 Jan 2011. Web. 31 Mar 2011. <http://www.mamaeve.com/index.php/natural-childbirth/251-home-birth-vs-hospital-birth-isnt-about-location/>.
This source talked about the risks and benefits of both hospital birth and home birth, and brings up many of the points mentioned in both the movie The Business of Being Born as well as the book Born in the USA by Marsden Wagner.
"Maternity Care: Birthing Facilities: Two Choices for Your Family." UC San Diego Health System. N.p., n.d. Web. 31 Mar 2011. <http://health.ucsd.edu/women/child/facilities/>.
This source provides details on two different types of environments that pregnant women may choose two give birth in inside of a hospital; a more traditional setting as opposed to an ABC.
"Home Birth." Second Nature Birthing. N.p., n.d. Web. 31 Mar 2011. <http://www.naturalchildbirth.co.uk/homebirth.shtml>.
This source provides information on the ability of the body to naturally cope with the pain of labor, and explains that home birth allows the body to do this where hospital birth involves unnatural use of chemicals to cope with and speed up birth.
Griebenow, Jennifer L. "Home Birth and Out-of-Hospital Birth: Is It Safe?." Homebirth- Safety and Benefits. N.p., n.d. Web. 31 Mar 2011. <http://www.gentlebirth.org/ronnie/homejjg.html>.
This source includes even more details and statistics on home birth, and generally supports it over hospital birth.
Thursday, March 31, 2011
Sunday, March 27, 2011
HW 40- Insights from book part 3
Hey Dr. Marsden Wagner, thanks for writing your extremely informative book Born in the USA. Your ideas about how obstetricians are not necessarily the right specialists to be dealing with healthy, routine childbirths really caused me to look at the processes of pregnancy and birth in a completely different way. All my life up until I started reading this book, I was under the impression that people had to give birth in the hospital. The only story I had ever heard about a home birth was that of the sister of one of my friends, who was born on her couch at home. At the time, that story was the oddest thing, and extremely hard to grasp. Now that you have provided me with the facts, my perspective has completely changed.
My favorite part about the last third of your book was the way it was able to connect the first points relating to the differences between midwives and obstetricians to the overarching issue of the flawed American system of childbirth today. For example, you immediately started this last section off by saying, "We Americans are consumed with the need to believe that we are number one. But here's a wrenching fact: forty-one countries have better infant mortality rates than the United States does." (Wagner, 212) The second thing that you said which I particularly enjoyed was how one of the most important solutions to this flawed American birthing system was to educate the public, "It is crucial to the movement for humanizing birth that the American public understand childbirth, midwifery, and the present abuses in our maternity care system." (Wagner, 220) Finally, I thought that the way you stressed the importance of taking necessary political action to solve this issue was great, especially when you said, "Another political battle is fought in the land of insurance companies. ABC's need insurance, but some insurance companies decline to do business with them or charge higher premiums to physicians who provide backup services to ABC's. As a result, ABC's are being squeezed from both directions. (Wagner, 228)
It seemed that your main purpose in writing this book was to inform the public of the current issues that the American birthing system has, and also to describe the reasons that these issues exist as well as suggest possible solutions toward the end. In my personal opinion, you did a stupendous job accomplishing all of these goals. If you were interested in writing a second edition, however, there is one suggestion that I might make. This text seems to be designed to educate mostly adults, or young adults at the least. One way to make sure that everyone is able to comprehend all of the extremely important information that you have displayed in your book would be to have a second edition that is aimed at a slightly younger audience, for ages about 13-17. There are a huge number of young teen girls getting pregnant, and it would be a shame if they were not able to make a well-educated decision on where to give birth simply because they did not have the necessary reading skills or patience to be able to understand the valuable information that you are trying to get across. However, as far as suggestions go for your current book, Born in the USA, I don't believe I can give you any. You did a stellar job incorporating your own message and at the same time, being able to support your ideas with well-cited evidence. While reading your book, I was constantly thinking about the decision of whether to have a midwife supervise birth or to be admitted to a standard hospital to be taken care of obstetricians, and which type of people would prefer each choice. I know for a fact that I will take this information with me no matter what decision I choose to make later in life regarding childbirth, and I appreciate all the time and effort you put in to creating this amazing book.
My favorite part about the last third of your book was the way it was able to connect the first points relating to the differences between midwives and obstetricians to the overarching issue of the flawed American system of childbirth today. For example, you immediately started this last section off by saying, "We Americans are consumed with the need to believe that we are number one. But here's a wrenching fact: forty-one countries have better infant mortality rates than the United States does." (Wagner, 212) The second thing that you said which I particularly enjoyed was how one of the most important solutions to this flawed American birthing system was to educate the public, "It is crucial to the movement for humanizing birth that the American public understand childbirth, midwifery, and the present abuses in our maternity care system." (Wagner, 220) Finally, I thought that the way you stressed the importance of taking necessary political action to solve this issue was great, especially when you said, "Another political battle is fought in the land of insurance companies. ABC's need insurance, but some insurance companies decline to do business with them or charge higher premiums to physicians who provide backup services to ABC's. As a result, ABC's are being squeezed from both directions. (Wagner, 228)
It seemed that your main purpose in writing this book was to inform the public of the current issues that the American birthing system has, and also to describe the reasons that these issues exist as well as suggest possible solutions toward the end. In my personal opinion, you did a stupendous job accomplishing all of these goals. If you were interested in writing a second edition, however, there is one suggestion that I might make. This text seems to be designed to educate mostly adults, or young adults at the least. One way to make sure that everyone is able to comprehend all of the extremely important information that you have displayed in your book would be to have a second edition that is aimed at a slightly younger audience, for ages about 13-17. There are a huge number of young teen girls getting pregnant, and it would be a shame if they were not able to make a well-educated decision on where to give birth simply because they did not have the necessary reading skills or patience to be able to understand the valuable information that you are trying to get across. However, as far as suggestions go for your current book, Born in the USA, I don't believe I can give you any. You did a stellar job incorporating your own message and at the same time, being able to support your ideas with well-cited evidence. While reading your book, I was constantly thinking about the decision of whether to have a midwife supervise birth or to be admitted to a standard hospital to be taken care of obstetricians, and which type of people would prefer each choice. I know for a fact that I will take this information with me no matter what decision I choose to make later in life regarding childbirth, and I appreciate all the time and effort you put in to creating this amazing book.
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
HW 39- Insights from pregnancy and birth book part 2
After reading Born in the USA by Marsden Wagner (published 2006 by The Regents of the University of California) up to about page 200, it seems that the book is organized in the way I had originally expected. As discussed in the previous post, the first 100 pages focused mainly on the dominant social practice of going to the hospital to give birth under the supervision of an obstetrician. Now it seems that the author has shifted focus and for the second hundred pages, she is discussing the less commonly practiced procedure of using a midwife to assist the pregnancy and birth process. (However, in this section there are exceptions, and Dr. Wagner will sometimes refer back to the obstetric practices) There are many interesting aspects of the second hundred pages of Born in the USA that have to do with pregnancy and birth. I learned about ABC's (alternate birth centers) for the first time in this section, as well as the author's general insight that, "In a hospital an obstetrician is in control, whereas in an ABC the birthing woman is in control." (Wagner, 133) Also, the author mentioned the fact that Midwives could save families a lot of money as opposed to hospital births, and reminded us that the right to refuse treatment is granted by both the constitution and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. Finally, another interesting phrase that Dr. Wagner used was, "Doctors control women with fear. They have succeeded in convincing the great majority of American women that they cannot safely give birth outside the hospital." (Wagner, 190)
After finishing about two thirds of the book, the main argument that stood out to me was that any environment that employs midwives rather than obstetricians is more suitable for healthy, normal births. So I decided to do some research on what the author calls ABC's, or alternative birth centers. This is what the Providence Alternative Birth Center had to say about themselves, "The philosophy of the unit is to foster a natural birth experience – one that does not routinely require medical intervention – and one that respects your privacy while encouraging family involvement. The Birthing Center rooms are equipped with queensize beds, a hydrotherapy tub for relaxation during labor, birthing chairs, comfortable recliner chairs, a refrigerator and many more amenities." (http://www.stjohnprovidence.org/Women/Pregnancy/) Another quote I found stated that, "A certified birthing center offers the opportunity for pregnant women to take greater control of their pregnancy care and creating the kind of environment they prefer for labor and delivery." (http://www.parentprofiles.com/pregnancy-articles/birthing-centers-an-alternative-to-hospital-deliveries) So according to these two sources, Dr. Wagner was correct in saying that women would possess greater control over their experience outside of a hospital. So really the next question that rises from this would be if it is more important for the woman to be able to make her own choices, or is the hospital (with its more advanced technology and procedures) the better choice? I'm sure the answer to this question is different for every woman, but so far, this book has got me thinking midwives are the way to go.
After finishing about two thirds of the book, the main argument that stood out to me was that any environment that employs midwives rather than obstetricians is more suitable for healthy, normal births. So I decided to do some research on what the author calls ABC's, or alternative birth centers. This is what the Providence Alternative Birth Center had to say about themselves, "The philosophy of the unit is to foster a natural birth experience – one that does not routinely require medical intervention – and one that respects your privacy while encouraging family involvement. The Birthing Center rooms are equipped with queensize beds, a hydrotherapy tub for relaxation during labor, birthing chairs, comfortable recliner chairs, a refrigerator and many more amenities." (http://www.stjohnprovidence.org/Women/Pregnancy/) Another quote I found stated that, "A certified birthing center offers the opportunity for pregnant women to take greater control of their pregnancy care and creating the kind of environment they prefer for labor and delivery." (http://www.parentprofiles.com/pregnancy-articles/birthing-centers-an-alternative-to-hospital-deliveries) So according to these two sources, Dr. Wagner was correct in saying that women would possess greater control over their experience outside of a hospital. So really the next question that rises from this would be if it is more important for the woman to be able to make her own choices, or is the hospital (with its more advanced technology and procedures) the better choice? I'm sure the answer to this question is different for every woman, but so far, this book has got me thinking midwives are the way to go.
Monday, March 14, 2011
HW 38- Insights from pregnancy and birth book part 1
So far, the book titled Born In The USA by Marsden Wagner, the author has structured the book so that information about the roles of obstericians is revealed first, followed by the pros and cons of dealing with birth in the way that these doctors are trained to handle it. The main question that the book is trying to answer is made clear on the cover of the book, "How a broken maternity system must be fixed to put women and children first." In otherwords, this book is observing the flaws in the current system of dealing with pregnancy and birth as well as the dominant social practices, (that are not as normal as I would have thought) and looking at possible improvements to the system. I expect that many of the other books are dealing with a similar topic and question, but from what I have read of one of the other books, Born In The USA does not use as many real-life experiences (so far) and has stuck strictly to the facts and analysis, aside from the very beginning of the book and a couple other situations.
In my opinion, the major insight of (about) the first 100 pages of the book has been that although the practice of obstericians is extremely important, they should not be the ones to handle "normal" childbirth; in otherwords a birth where medical treatment is not necessary to save either the mother or the child. Quotes such as, "Many surgeons believe a surgical cut to be better than a natural tear, although scientific data has proven otherwise," (Wagner, 56) are scattered throughout the first 100 pages, and represent the overestimation of how helpful all of the obsteric intervention really is. There are many points in the book so far that have got me thinking. The author's opinion on epidural's is one of them; for example, on page 54, she asks "Is epidural block safe? Epidural can hardly be called "safe" when close to one-quater (23 percent) of women receiving it have complications." (Wagner, 54) I never would have imagined that the percentage could be that high, considering all the people I know who have recieved an epidural, including my mother. Not even the movie we are watching in class has looked on the subject in such a light. (Or at least not yet) As far as evidence goes, the author of this book has done a stupendous job so far. There have been at least five large, detailed tables of statistics to prove Dr. Wagner's point. However, the source of this information is not always clear, but the position of the author leads me to believe that the information is accurate. Also, the real-world examples that the author provides are extremely powerful. There is an extremely good example on page 84 (I won't quote it because it is too long) that deals with a young married couple who's pregnancy went smoothly when the day that the mother was due had finally arrived. The two practicing obstericians practicing in the town decided that pitocin, and epidural, and an epistotomy needed to be executed even though there was not scientific evidence that there was a problem. The baby ended up being vaccumed out and was diagnosed with severe brain damage, all because of this unnecessary intervention.
In my opinion, the major insight of (about) the first 100 pages of the book has been that although the practice of obstericians is extremely important, they should not be the ones to handle "normal" childbirth; in otherwords a birth where medical treatment is not necessary to save either the mother or the child. Quotes such as, "Many surgeons believe a surgical cut to be better than a natural tear, although scientific data has proven otherwise," (Wagner, 56) are scattered throughout the first 100 pages, and represent the overestimation of how helpful all of the obsteric intervention really is. There are many points in the book so far that have got me thinking. The author's opinion on epidural's is one of them; for example, on page 54, she asks "Is epidural block safe? Epidural can hardly be called "safe" when close to one-quater (23 percent) of women receiving it have complications." (Wagner, 54) I never would have imagined that the percentage could be that high, considering all the people I know who have recieved an epidural, including my mother. Not even the movie we are watching in class has looked on the subject in such a light. (Or at least not yet) As far as evidence goes, the author of this book has done a stupendous job so far. There have been at least five large, detailed tables of statistics to prove Dr. Wagner's point. However, the source of this information is not always clear, but the position of the author leads me to believe that the information is accurate. Also, the real-world examples that the author provides are extremely powerful. There is an extremely good example on page 84 (I won't quote it because it is too long) that deals with a young married couple who's pregnancy went smoothly when the day that the mother was due had finally arrived. The two practicing obstericians practicing in the town decided that pitocin, and epidural, and an epistotomy needed to be executed even though there was not scientific evidence that there was a problem. The baby ended up being vaccumed out and was diagnosed with severe brain damage, all because of this unnecessary intervention.
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
HW 37- Comments on birth stories
TIM said...
I think that your most beautiful section in this post was when you spoke about how different it was that the 17 year old girl's boyfriend was so determined not to have his girlfriend get an abortion. When you wrote that, "Her boyfriend, who is also 17 years old, remained by her side the whole time. In fact, he did not even mention the possibility of abortion to her, and when she finally brought it up as something she would prefer not to do, he agreed 100 percent," it really made me think about how certain stereotypes that we get used to about people are not always true. I think that after reading your post I will be less judgemental towards people in general, but especially pregnant teenagers and their boyfriends.
Jim Harker said...
In my opinion, you have certainly done an excellent job portraying your mother's experience through those rough nine months in our lives! In all seriousness, however, I believe that you most thought-provoking line was, "I also think that the situation of my mother's pregnancy fits in perfectly with my idea that the best time to have children is 25 to 35, because after 25 many people are responsible enough to handle it, but if you wait too long your child won't have grandparents for long." Although I believe that this kind of statement really only applies to certain people, it was a very interesting idea to throw in and your justification for not having children after age 35 also caught my interest. One suggestion I might have made was to add a little more detail on the specifics of the notes that your father (myself) took while your mother was in the hospital. Overall, (from my perspective that is) this post is solid work.
Ben H said...
I think that your most beautiful section in this post was when you spoke about how different it was that the 17 year old girl's boyfriend was so determined not to have his girlfriend get an abortion. When you wrote that, "Her boyfriend, who is also 17 years old, remained by her side the whole time. In fact, he did not even mention the possibility of abortion to her, and when she finally brought it up as something she would prefer not to do, he agreed 100 percent," it really made me think about how certain stereotypes that we get used to about people are not always true. I think that after reading your post I will be less judgemental towards people in general, but especially pregnant teenagers and their boyfriends.
Jim Harker said...
In my opinion, you have certainly done an excellent job portraying your mother's experience through those rough nine months in our lives! In all seriousness, however, I believe that you most thought-provoking line was, "I also think that the situation of my mother's pregnancy fits in perfectly with my idea that the best time to have children is 25 to 35, because after 25 many people are responsible enough to handle it, but if you wait too long your child won't have grandparents for long." Although I believe that this kind of statement really only applies to certain people, it was a very interesting idea to throw in and your justification for not having children after age 35 also caught my interest. One suggestion I might have made was to add a little more detail on the specifics of the notes that your father (myself) took while your mother was in the hospital. Overall, (from my perspective that is) this post is solid work.
- I was inspired by the amount of interesting ideas that I had not previously thought about that you were able to fit into this post. For instance, the way you describe your mothers reasons for having a child was largely based on cultural practices was very eye-opening for me. However, your most thought provoking line in my opinion was, "At first I felt bad for her, but I learned from her that having a baby at a young age isn't a 'mistake.' At least she dosn't think so. Why does our culture put down teen pregnancy so much?" This sentence really made me realize that so many people in our society look down on teen pregnancy, and yet usually don't provide any legitimate reasoning or evidence for their opinions. Great job!
Ben H said...
- I really liked your decision to choose three women who had experienced the processes of pregnancy and giving birth in order to gain multiple perspectives on a similar situation. One of your lines that was most interesting to me was, "So she believed that having children would be the best option, and another thing she mentioned was that she didn’t want to have kids too young and she didn’t want to have them when she was too old so then was the perfect time to have children." One of the reasons this caught my eye is because I have a similar belief, and also because it sparks questions such as, "Statistically speaking, what are the best ages to have a child?" Your post certainly got me thinking about even more aspects of pregnancy and birth, great job!
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